Three years after gang rape, same men return to sexually assault survivor in Haryana

New Delhi: A 21-year-old Dalit student is recovering in hospital after being gang raped by a group of five men, the same five charged with sexually assaulting her three years earlier, a police officer said on Monday.

The police in Haryana were hunting for the five men, accused of abducting the student from outside her college last Wednesday, before drugging and raping her in a car.

The girl was found unconscious in bushes on the side of a highway along the Haryana-Delhi border, in the country's latest shocking sexual attack.

The Haryana police have launched a manhunt for the five absconding men. Representational image. Reuters

Haryana's deputy superintendent of police, Pushpa Khatri, said the student, who is still in hospital, has identified all five men — two of whom are currently on bail awaiting trial for raping her in 2013.

"She has identified the five accused and two of them were involved in the gangrape of the student in Bhiwandi district in 2013," Khatri told AFP. "We have formed several teams to arrest the accused."

The woman's family has accused the five of threatening them in the lead up to Wednesday's attack, demanding that they withdraw the case lodged after the 2013 assault.

"The accused were constantly demanding us to compromise outside the court. They even offered us a hefty amount for settlement. But we didn't agree," the victim's brother was quoted by Hindustan Times as saying.

The family alleged they were forced to move to Rohtak district in the state from a neighbouring district after the 2013 attack because of harassment by the accused.

On Sunday evening, Dalit members held a protest in Rohtak to demand justice for the victim.

The fatal gangrape of a student on a bus in New Delhi in 2012 had shone a global spotlight on frightening levels of violence against women in India. It also led to major reform of India's rape laws, including speeding up of trials and increased punishments for offenders, but horrific attacks continue to be reported in the media on a daily basis.

The most recent official figures show that 36,735 rapes were reported across the country in 2014, although activists say the true number is likely much higher because of the social stigma attached to sexual crimes.